Improved holdback for thills



L B.- EATON.

Hold BaCk.

Pateted Junel 29n 1869.Y

that sich gaat can,

Letters Patent No. 91,831, dated June 29, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Y To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, J.B.EATON,of Fryeburg, in the county of Oxford, and State of Maine, haveinvcnted a new and improved mode or contrivance for holding back and backing vehicles worked by single horse, and for freeing the horse from the thills in case of accident; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 represents a view of the invention.

Figure 2 represents a vertical section of the invention.

The nature and object of myinvention are to secure, at a trifiing cost, a nea-t, convenient, and safe holdback for allvehicles drawn by single horse, and so constructed as to permit the horse, in case of accident, to go free from the thills. v

I secure these objects by means of a small plate, A, containing a spring, B, attached to the thill F, by screws, oc, and a small catch, D, attached to the holdback E, of the harness, and designed to work in the plate, as after described.

The present clumsy and inconvenient mode and practice of wrapping the hold-back strap two or three times around the thill, and through a leather or anl .iron loop, so that the horse cannot become detached from the thills, in case of accident, until the' harness breaks, is entirely obviated, and the slow and difficult process of fastening and unfastening the holdback straps to and from the thills now used, my invention supersedes, and substitutes instead a contrivance simple, easy, convenient, and to be operated in a moment, and insures perfect ,safety in the event the drawinggear becomes detached or broken, which often happens, while the carriage is in motion.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it's construction and operation.

It consists of three pieces, to Wit, an oval and concave plate, A, a spring, B, and catch, D, made of hard metal, and of any requiredl size.

The plate, as exhibited in the drawing, is about ve inches in length, one inch Wide, andthree-fourths of an inch thick, and tapering at the ends. Through this plate, between the middle and rear end, is an aperture, G, similar in shape to an ordinarykey-hole, to receive the knob K, of the catch, as after described.

The plate is fastened to the thill, on either side desired, by two screws, c c, one at each end. On the inside of this plate, and a part of it, is 'a projection, H, about three-fo urths oi'. an inch square, which is designed to be let into the thill, so that the holding-back draught comes on the projection, and not on the screws.

The spring B, made of steel, lies ilatwise in the concave of the plate A, between it andthe thill, covering the aperture G on the inside, to exclude dirt, and is fastened near one end to the plate, by a rivet passing through both the plate and spring. The opposite end of this spring is to be bent a little outward from the plate, and made concave, nearly like the bowl of a small spoon, to receive and hold fast, until. released, the head of the knob, or. nipple K, forming a part of the catch D,.neXt described.

The catch D is a dat piece of metal, in form something like a hand without the thumb, Wider at one end, and tapering irregularly toward the other end, having an oblong hole, I, through the wider end, to receive the hold back strap E, to which it is fastened. On the dat side of this piece, and part of it, at the small end, is a knob, or nipple, K, similar in shape to a head and neck, and projects at right angles. This knob, or head drops into the larger' part of the aperture Gr,` 'upon the spring B, and being slightly pressed by the thumb or linger, forces back the spring, and slides into the narrow part of the aperture G, and is there firmly held by the spring, to prevent rattling and ti'iction and escape. If, however,'the draught on the catch becomes reversed, as it must in case the horse goes forward out of the thills, the spring is forced in toward the thills, the catch slides out, and the horse goes free from the vehicle. This catch is attached to and made part of the harness, and may be modified to be used in the same plate, when the latter is fastened on the top or under side ofthe thill.

I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The arrangement of the whole contrivance, the plate A, spring B, and catch D, as constructed and combined,

.as and for the purpose herein specified.

Witnesses:

EDWIN EDWARDS, A. S. LUDLOW. 

